In my presentation I shall elaborate on State violence against underprivileged mothers. It will describe and analyze the systematic abduction of motherhood in the Israeli neo-liberal welfare state. Most studies on disadvantaged mothers' situation in neo-liberal regimes examine the connection between the structured threat to motherhood and welfare practices only marginally. Thus, the research on "single parent mothers" ignores the phenomenon of expropriating underprivileged mothers' parenthood by State authorities, and the coercive means that are employed in the process. Focusing on this lacuna, the presentation proposes a critical analysis of the connection between undermining the right of motherhood of socially deprived women and children's "out of home placement" policy. I shall argue that this policy derives its justifications from the claim about the prominence of the "child's wellbeing" (which precedes the biological right to motherhood) and also from the "parental capability" discourse. Both derive support from vague theories, and rely on blaming the mothers for endangering or neglecting their children. Consequently, it will be argued, interests such as those connected to transferring babies from disadvantaged mothers to better-off women, as well as those of the welfare institutions system that enjoy State budgets for "children at risk" are being served. Thus, the presentation will examine the connection between policy and motherhood in the neo-liberal welfare state. It will demonstrate some of the coercive means used by State agencies against underprivileged mothers and their children.
The presentation will be based on an auto-ethnographic study and social involvement over 30 years, participating in single mothers' struggles against the expropriation of their custody of their offspring, and supporting their efforts to bring their children back home from welfare institutions or foster families. It is also based on reviewing many studies that were carried out in Israel and overseas.
